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Reed Richards (Earth-616)/Expanded History/Year Four
Go Back to Year Three __TOC__ Medusa's Departure Not long after the Fantastic Four were approached by Quicksilver who warned them that Attilan had been invaded by Xemu and his armies from the Fifth Dimension. This coming at a time when Sue was still unsure if she wanted to return to the Fantastic Four full time. After hearing Pietro's story, Reed and the rest of the Fantastic Four went off to Attilan leaving Sue behind. When the group arrived in Attilan they were quickly captured by Xemu and his minions. As prisoners they learned that the invaders sought to force Black Bolt to power their weapon, the Thunder Horn, and trigger a world war they hoped would wipe out all life on Earth so it could be taken over. Although the Fantastic Four were freed by Triton they were too late to stop Xemu from testing the weapon. But they later stopped the invader and destroyed the Thunder Horn. With the help of Sue—who had stowed away aboard the Pogo-Plane—Attilan was kept invisible from approaching Chinese fighter jets that were drawn to the area after the Thunder Horn test. With Xemu returned to the authorities in the Fifth Dimension Medusa informed her teammates that she was returning to the Inhumans. With this news Sue decided that she was going to rejoin the team full time. This happy reunion proved short lived as the Fantastic Four faced more trials and tribulations ahead. Interlocking Technologies Inc. With money growing tight, Reed was forced to sell Fantastic Four Inc. to Interlocking Technologies, Inc. Reed signed everything over to owner Albert DeVoor unaware that Interlocking Technologies was a multidimensional corporation plotting to start a war between three different realities. Later, Reed confirmed his suspicions that his powers were starting to wane and decided to keep this a secret from his teammates for the time being. His attentions were soon turned to threats of war when he became aware that technology from the Fifth Dimension was being used to cause a new ice age on Earth. He was also unaware of the fact they were about to be invaded by forced from Earth-A who believed Reed's time travel technology was being used to cause chaos in their dimension. Before Reed could launch an attack on the Fifth Dimension he was contacted by Ben and the Reed Richards of Earth-A (a Thing himself) who warned him that Interlocking Technologies was responsible for escalating conflict between their three dimensions. Tracking down DeVoor, Reed learned that he was employed by the warrior king known as Arkon who sought the nuclear annihilation of these three worlds so the energies could be filtered through a dimensional nexus and revitalizes the energy rings that keep his home world alive. Reed then developed devices that allowed Ben to travel into the Nexus and shut it down. Within the Nexus, Ben was opposed by Arkon's defender, the hockey inspired warrior called Gaard. While Reed monitored from his lab, Johnny and his Earth-721 counterpart destroyed Arkon's machines on Polemachus, while Ben defeated Gaard and used Reed's device to shut the Nexus portal, saving all three worlds in the process. Although Arkon's plot was foiled he managed to save is world of Polemachus with help from the X-Men in . Crusader Things appeared to go back to normal until banks owned by Calvin McClary were attacked by the Crusader, who claimed to be the former 1950s super-hero known as Marvel Boy. The Fantastic Four tried to stop his attacks but were always a step behind. With the rest of his team exhausted from the constant work Reed sent them away to rest while he searched for the Crusader alone. This is not really Marvel Boy of the 1950s but a Uranian Eternal known as Thelius. As revealed in and , Thelius was created to be a duplicate of Marvel Boy just prior to their civilization being destroyed by the Uranians. His mental conditioning damaged, Thelius believed that he was the real Marvel Boy. Reed later discovered that the Crusader blamed McClary for the fate of Matthew Grayson, the father of Marvel Boy. The Fantastic Four later caught up with the Crusader. During the battle Reed discovered that Crusader's Light Bands were powered by the sun and tricked him into overloading them. This backfired in a way causing the Crusader to incinerate his body by overpowering his weapons. Reed sent Ben on a series of solo missions to investigate strange readings. The first led Ben to Arizona where he teamed up with the Son of Satan against the unresting spirit of Ravenstorm. Powerless Thing Then Reed sent Ben to the Savage Land where he and Ka-Zar stopped Volcanus from harnessing the power of the Savange Land's volcanoes for his own evil ends. When the were-cat known as Tigra trapped the Super-Skrull in a Native American Soul Catcher, she later turned it over to Reed Richards for safe-keeping. Reed was later hired again by the military to deal with the ever constant problem of the Hulk. Reed hoped to utilize his Psi-Amplifier again in order to cure Banner of his transformations. Although the Fantastic Four succeeded in capturing the Hulk, Ben—once more depressed over his condition—reacted poorly to how the Hulk was being treated and helped free the gamma-spawned monster before the experiment could be completed. The two monsters went on a rampage with the Fantastic Four and the military in pursuit. The chase let to St. Louis where the Thing realized the errors of his ways and helped defeat the Hulk. A surprise side-effect of the Thing's being prolonged proximity to the gamma rays emanating from the Hulk's body caused Ben to revert back to his human form curing him. While the Fantastic Four celebrated the Hulk escaped capture once again. With Ben powerless, Reed hired Power Man to temporarily take his place on the team. Initially Ben was okay with this because of his hope for fame but when this fizzled, Grimm protested against Luke Cage being a member of the Fantastic Four. These protests all but dissolved when Cage helped the Fantastic Four take down the Wrecker. While Reed and Johnny tried to console Ben Grimm, Power Man seemingly turned on his new teammates and attacked Sue. When the male members of the Fantastic Four returned home Cage fled in the Fantasti-Car. Reed then revealed to Ben that he only hired Power Man temporarily until he completed his latest invention: an exo-skeleton fashioned after Ben's Thing form. Learning that Power Man was enthralled by the Puppet Master who sought a pawn to break out of prison, Reed and Ben ventured out and stopped the breakout attempt. World War II Reed soon discovered that history was being altered thanks to events in the past leading to the Nazis winning World War II. Investigating he discovered that during their battle with Power Man, a cylinder of Vibranium was knocked onto the Time-Platform and sent into the past. Utilizing the time platform, the Fantastic Four traveled to early 1942 where they teamed up with the Invaders and stopped the Nazis from using the Vibranium to enhance their V-2 rockets. The Fantastic Four only managed to recover half of the cylinder before they returned to their own era creating two divergent realities in their wake. Reed and the others were left behind when Ben ventured back into their own past of 1941 where he teamed up with the Liberty Legion to recover the second half of the cylinder from the Nazis. Both Mister Fanastic and the Thing state that they were enlisted in the military during World War II in . Due to the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 this should be considered Apocryphal statement. Counter-Earth While Reed's own powers were fading Ben was making strides with his exoskeleton and Sue's powers continued to grow. The group were quickly mobilized when a massive golden ape began attacking New York City. During the battle Reed discovered that he could no longer stretch his right arm. Shrinking the ape down to normal size they were surprised to learn it could talk. The ape, named Gorr, explained that it came to Earth to seek help in stopping Galactus. Breaking free, Gorr tricked the Fantastic Four into following him to his ship and absconded with the group into space. There Gorr explained he came from Counter-Earth a duplicate of Earth created by the High Evolutionary that orbited the sun opposite of Earth. When they arrived near Counter-Earth it was just as the newest herald of Galactus, the Asgardian Destroyer, was attacking the Evolutionary's asteroid base. The Fantastic Four's counter-attack attracted the attention of Galactus himself. Although they were no match for Galactus, Reed was able to appeal to Galactus to spare Counter-Earth. Even though he was growing dangerously weak Galactus agreed to spare Counter-Earth in exchange for a suitable replacement to be consumed. Using the High Evolutionary's computers they discovered three worlds that may suit the needs of Galactus without killing innocent lives. Reed and Ben were transported to the mechanical world of Mekka which they discovered was populated by sentient machines ruled by Ben's old ally Torgo. When Torgo learned of their mission he captured the pair thinking they would betray him to Galactus. Wanting no such thing, Reed and Ben broke free in order to return to the Evolutionary. In the process of freeing themselves Reed was forced to tell Ben that he was losing his powers. When Reed and Ben were able to shut down the power on Mekka, Torgo was forced to accept their promise not to reveal the location of his world to Galactus and let them go in peace. Returning to the High Evolutionary's base Reed and Ben learned that Johnny and Gorr's mission to another world was also a failure. To make matters worse, Sue was missing and their time was up. The three male members of the Fantastic Four then ventured to Counter-Earth to assist the High Evolutionary in his battle against Galactus. During the ensuing battle Sue returned with an apparent suitable world for Galactus to consume. Finding it satisfactory Galactus consumed the world and was seemingly destroyed when he was attacked by a fatal case of "indigestion" from consuming that world. As it turned out Sue had enlisted the aid of the Impossible Man who gladly sacrificed his home world of Poppup to sate the hunger of Galactus. With Galactus defeated the Fantastic Four had no choice but to accept the Impossible Man's request to return with them to Earth. En route Ben suddenly reverted back into his Thing form, a side effect of being blasted by Galactus earlier in the battle. Although Galactus was seemingly slain here, he was shown to have survived after being reformed by his ship in . As the Fantastic Four returned to Earth they were unaware that their ship had been secretly boarded by Counter-Earth's own Reed Richards. The Fantastic Four soon splashed down in Central Park and even though they were now stuck with the Impossible Man tried to continue on with the relative normalcy of their everyday lives. Diplomatic Problems per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616]] Not long after their return to Earth Reed is visited by the Sub-Mariner who—after a failed alliance with Doctor Doom—had Reed's specially made suit rendered inoperative. Reed tried in vain to cure Namor of his condition before he would suffocate as a result of his condition. But Namor later grew impatient and fled only to be captured by Doom. The Fantastic Four then stormed Latveria to save Namor only to have their ally attack them when Doom threatened to withhold the antidote from him. However, the battle was quickly ended when the US Secretary of State ordered the Fantastic Four to stand down and return home in order to avoid an international incident. The secretary of state is identified as Henry Kissinger in this story. However per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 this should be considered a topical reference. With no other choice Reed ordered his team to return to the United States. Back in the United States, Reed investigated the appearance of the super-powered rock band known as Kiss. Later, the Fantastic Four celebrated the season by engaging in a snowball fight with the Avengers. Not long after that the group was hired by General Ross to hunt the Hulk again. Reed and the others tracked the Hulk to Utah where a battle broke out. Reed's attempt to attach a device to incapacitate the Hulk failed and the brute managed to slip away from them again. Deathlok Reed and the Fantastic Four were later hired to protect the President of the United States from an assassination attempt being plotted by Mentallo and the Fixer. When the pair manipulated the cyborg known as Deathlok to kill the President, Mister Fantastic had the Impossible Man pose as the Commander-in-Chief allowing the plan to fail. The President in this story is depicted as Jimmy Carter. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.]] With Deathlok in terminal condition thanks to a brain probe implanted in his mind by the Fixer, Reed sent Ben to England to bring the cyborg to Professor Louis Kort, a noted expert in the field of cybernetics. Later, Ben went to Florida to test out a new experimental plane into the Bermuda Triangle, and ended up rescuing disgraced soldier James Scully and a band of refugees out of a time warp that sent them millions of years into the past. They also brought with them the deadly Jaguar Priest and his army of pterodactyls. Reed showed up on the scene to assist Ben. Despite his failing powers he was able to assist in stopping the threat and rescuing Scully and his friends. Scully is referred to as a veteran of the Vietnam War in this story. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Power Failure Having grown bored, the Impossible Man later went to the offices of Marvel Comics to demand a comic book to be made about him. When editor Stan Lee refused to comply the Impossible Man ran amok around the office. Mister Fantastic and his team soon arrived and quelled the Impossible Man and convinced Lee to publish the a book about the impish alien. Their time at the Marvel officers were later cut short when they discovered that the Frightful Four were auditioning for a new fourth member to add to their team at the Baxter Building. When Reed and the others tried to crash the recruitment drive they were incapacitated and captured by the Frightful Four, partially because the Impossible Man left the battle to watch television. The group were rescued by both Thundra and Tigra who had come to the aid of the team. Although the Frightful Four were outnumbered the heroes were all defeated by the Brute, Reed's counterpart from Counter-Earth. The Frightful Four then tried to hold the Fantastic Four for ransom, but none of the politicians contacted were willing to pay the demands. The group later managed to break free once again when the Impossible Man caused a black-out while trying to boost the television signal. During the ensuing battle Reed discovered, much to his horror, discovered that his powers were now completely gone. Capitalizing on this situation the Counter-Earth Richards was able to toss Reed into the Negative Zone and take his place as the rest of the Fantastic Four and their allies defeated the remaining members of the Frightful Four. Using his counter-part's loss of powers as a cover, the Counter-Earth Richards was able to easily fool his foes into thinking that the "Brute" was lost in the Negative Zone. The politicians featured in this story were New York Mayor Abe Beame, then outgoing President Gerald Ford, his successor Jimmy Carter, and Carter's losing opponent Ronald Reagan. The appearance of all three men in this story should be considered topical references per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Powerless Reed awoke to find himself lost in the Negative Zone fighting the various creatures there for his very survival. Soon Richards attracted the attention of Annihilus but the ruler of the Negative Zone sought Reed as an ally not as a foe. Following Annihilus to a nearby cit, he was surprised to see that the long lost Monster Android—long since transformed by Annihilus—was now back in the control of the Mad Thinker who was seeking to use his creation and the Cosmic Control Rod to take over the Negative Zone and the Earth. Meanwhile on Earth, the Counter-Earth Reed Richards was getting dangerously close to being discovered and tricked Ben and Johnny into venturing into the Negative Zone and trapped them there. They soon caught up with Reed and Annihilus and joined their battle against the Monster Android. When the Monster Android fought its way to Earth through the Negative Zone portal the three members of the Fantastic Four agreed to recover the Cosmic Control Rod for Annihilus. They returned to Earth in the middle of a battle between the Brute, Sue, Thundra, Tigra, and the Monster Android. The group quickly deactivated the Monster Android, prompting the arriving Mad Thinker to flee the scene. Before Reed could return the Cosmic Control Rod, his Counter-Earth double—regaining his lucidity—decided to risk his life instead, taking the Rod and diving into the Negative Zone portal where he seemingly perished. Learning that Agatha Harkness had kidnapped Franklin and disappeared in his absence, Reed—regardless of his lack of powers—joined his teammates in a trip to Whisper Hill. There they were attacked by the Eliminator, a minion of those who captured Franklin and Agatha. Although the group was caught off guard by the Eliminator they were able to overpower him sufficiently enough for the warrior to concede defeat and self destruct. Returning to headquarters Reed re-designed his long disused mechanical arms and used fragments to compensate for his lack of powers. Scanning pieces of the Eliminator's armor, Reed was able to track Agatha and Franklin to the Colorado Rockies. There they discovered the reclusive village of New Salem home to a coven of witches led by Nicholas Scratch. When the Fantastic Four arrived Scratch and his minions overpowered them and took them prisoner along with Harkness and Reed's son. Breaking out of their cells the Fantastic Four clashed with the mystically powered Salem's Seven. During the course of the battle, the Seven's Brutacus grabbed Reed's mechanical arms and shattered them. Their steel construction proved to be the Salem's Seven's undoing, as steel was the anathema to their spell that granted them their powers, rendering the Seven powerless. Confronting Scratch during a mystical ceremony the FF and Agatha Harkness convinced the other witches to turn against Scratch and he was banished to another dimension. =Further Reading= * Mister Fantastic: Year Five * Return to Expanded History Main Page =Continuity Notes= =References=